A CFS Story...
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Once upon a time there were two wacky skaters. They were almost normal until one (who had just gotten the internet) went to the Buffy posting board and asked if anyone wanted a Buffy penpal…the other skater responded and they found out not only did they have the same favorite show but they both enjoyed the sport of skating. After a bit they stopped emailing. However, one fortunate day they ran into each other again on the TPB and plotted to win the Olympics and hit Tara Lipinski with a flaming bat in the knee. Their saneness was slowly slipping away…. They had planned to tie and then hear a funky anthem medley (one was a Georgia peach while the other was a Canadian, eh?). Then they ran into a lil club ‘Boogedy’. They decided they wanted to become members of this ‘clan’ and set out to ask Shelly if they could be official members. At this time Shelly was running around screaming of rabid brownie scouts……they decided they’d fit right in :). And the rest is history…..
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After becoming members of this club the wacky skaters grew closer (and their saneness slipped more and more) planning not only to take Tara Lipinski down but Michelle Kwan too. When they couldn’t get access to a computer they sent snail mail with pics and pretty colours…um..colors.. When they did have computer access they had long chats and plotted to attend the same skating camp and visit each other. They wanted to call each other but long distance fees were too much in the cruel world we live in today. They formed the CFS (which is VERY exclusive as they are its only members). They talked of jumps and Matt (Damon) and Ben (Affleck) and injuries, coaches and tests. They talked in english and french. Then one miraculous day the Canadian CFS’s parents told her she could phone long distance and here our story begins.
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The skaters were chatting on AOL (ICQ is cruel sometimes) when Julia announced that her parents had finally agreed to let her call. Amber searched furiously for the number for her line and very nearly gave out Michelle’s number instead (that woulda been a big whoops) of her own. Finally when all was said and done the two nervous skaters left their chat to let the phone call begin. Julia dialed with trembling fingers…why was this so nerve racking? After the number was dialed all she heard was a busy signal. Amber had forgotten to turn on her ringer! While feeling almost relived and plotting revenge Julia hit the redial button and waited. It rang……
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Amber sat on the edge of her seat by the computer and impatiently waited for the phone to ring…after 5 hours of waiting (okay it was 5 minutes…I lie) she looked at the necessary evil many people refer to as the telephone and it came to her. The last time she had left the ringer on at night, she received a call at 6 in the morning from some crazed loony (known as a salesman) wanting to know if she’d like to invest in dentures…after that she left the ringer off…*Julia’s going to kill me!* Amber thought as she switched the ringer on…before she could even take her hands from the phone, it rang…Amber let it ring once without picking it up…she looked as if she was going to answer the phone expecting to hear that a family member had died…it rang again…she glared at it in intense hatred (phones are E-V-I-L) and tentatively picked it up (expecting the worst I might add)…….
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After the phone had rang once Julia thought of hanging up. But then, mid-second ring, someone picked up…..
“Hello?” said a quiet voice with a slight Georgia Peach accent:)
Even though Julia knew very well who it was she didn’t know what to say so she asked:
“Is this Amber?”
Well, duh, it was. It was sort of funny, after having 5 hour chats where neither of then could shut up..er..stop typing….she couldn’t think of anything to say. So she came up with a lame line. “So, do I sound like Dru too?” (for those of you who don’t know, Amber thinks I look like Drusilla from Buffy).
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Amber smiled slightly at that comment “uhm…not really” she said hesitantly. She paused a minute before saying “Gee it’s a lot easier to talk online isn’t it?”
She heard Julia murmur a faint “yeah” but then silence ensued. She cleared her throat a little bit “So…remember we promised no awkward silences?”
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At that moment the door opened and her boyfriend, Andrew walked in.
“Could you hold on for a second?” she asked before putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone.
Andrew smiled a bit “Who’re you talking to?” he asked while lugging a big suitcase into her room.
Amber grinned a little “I’ll tell you in a bit, could you come back later?” she asked hoping she didn’t sound too rude.
He nodded and glimpsed at the computer screen before he left…one eyebrow was raised…”Card games?” he asked before closing the door quietly behind him.
“Okay I’m back” she said into the receiver.
“And I do believe you’re bad luck making me lose all these games of cards! 7 losses in a row!” Julia laughed…
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Since they’d promised each other no awkward silences before hand Julia decided they had to prevail! She remembered that they’d thought it would be easy to talk about skating to avoid these pesky silences.
“So, how’s your double axel coming?” Julia asked, knowing it was a jump they were both working on.
“Well it would help if I could skate.” Amber said.
“Yeah, I know the feeling…” Julia replied (for those of you who don’t know I screwed up my knee so I had to miss skating camp this week..it's all better now though).
After that there conversation turned from skating to Tara Lipinski (and bringing her down, who cares if she’s pro anyway? It doesn’t make it any less fun) to how much Canadian women singles skaters suck (of course that’s all gonna change!) to school and so on. They made it through with no awkward silences and had fun in the process. After a while Amber said “My mom just came in and she was like ‘You’re still on the phone?’” Juila then looked at the clock and realized it had been over an hour already.
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“Shoot! I gotta go or my mom’s gonna kill me!” she said. “Do you wanna chat online (if the all mighty ICQ gods allow us) or something?” she asked.
“Sure..thanks for calling.” Amber said.
“No problem, I hope I can again…if my mom doesn’t kill me..” Julia replied.
They then said their goodbyes and hung up.
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Amber was grinning from ear to ear when she got off the phone…she set it back down and turned off the ringer again (hee hee Julles!). She quickly ran/limped (what’s the diff?) down the stairs and yelled at Andrew to stop sucking up to her parents and get up and unpack…then she was back up the stairs and quickly connected….ICQ seemed to be working quite alright (at least on her end) and she thanked all higher beings.
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Julia was already online and she quickly sent out a chat request…grinning like a fool and having Andrew asking questions was enough to scare just about anyone off, but not Julia! There she was just as uhm…chipper (yeah that’s it!) as ever!
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They started their chat the usual way (but y’all will never know since it’s a secret nyah nyah nyah!) and Amber read Julia’s sentences as the appeared…”Oh d’oh! I forgot to say EH!” Julia complained.
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“Darn you! LOL, Well I forgot to say ‘y’all’ or ‘I’m fixing to’” Amber typed back.
“No worries…there’s always next time!”
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And here our story comes to an end. The two wacky continued to talk every day (starting with their usual super secret CFS greeting). Their saneness continues to slip as the days go by but hey, it’s the 90s…saneness isn’t a necessity! Oh yeah, and they lived happily ever after….
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